Latest figures released by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that incidents of shoplifting in England and Wales surged 20% to 530,643 in the year ended March 2025.
This marks the highest level since police began their current recording methods in March 2003 and represents a significant jump from the previous year's total of 444,022 offences.
Overall theft offences remained steady at 1.8 million for the same period, showing no change from the previous year.
British Retail Consortium (BRC) business and regulation director Tom Ironside stated: “The ONS figures prove what retailers have long been telling us – that retail theft is spiralling out of control. Sadly, such theft is not a victimless crime; it pushes up the cost for honest shoppers and damages the customer experience for everyone.
“Retail theft costs retailers, and their customers, over £2.2bn a year and are a major trigger for violence and abuse against staff. While the causes are manifold, the rise in organised crime is a significant concern, with gangs hitting store after store, even within a single day.
“These stats come as the UK experiences record levels of retail crime with incidents of violence and abuse climbing to over 2,000 per day.”
The Crime Survey for England and Wales also revealed that fraud incidents experienced a substantial increase of 31%, reaching an estimated 4.2 million cases in the year ended March 2025.
This is up from 3.2 million incidents in the previous year.
The rise was primarily driven by a 23% uptick in consumer and retail fraud, which accounted for approximately 1.1 million of these incidents.
Tom Ironside stated that in response to the BRC's advocacy, the government is initiating measures to combat retail crime with the introduction of the new Crime and Policing Bill.
Retailers anticipate that this legislation will be crucial in safeguarding retail employees and addressing the rise in thefts.
The bill aims to eliminate the current £200 threshold for 'low-level' theft, reinforcing the stance that all instances of shoplifting are intolerable.
Ironside continued: “The bill will also introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, which will increase sentencing and improve the visibility of violence against staff so that police can allocate appropriate resources to the challenge.
"This bill needs to go further and protect all retail staff working in customer facing roles, including delivery drivers, just as the Workers Protection Act does in Scotland."
